


waiting for a smile to come to me

by valjester



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 13:30:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5335856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valjester/pseuds/valjester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>He tilted his head softly and she accepted it as permission to gently brush her pinky fingers along the bottom of his helm. “I can never tell what face you’re making under here, how will I know if you’re happy or sad?”</i> </p><p>Edea teaches Alternis to smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	waiting for a smile to come to me

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place before the events of Where the Fairy Flies. Vague spoilers for Alternis' backstory.

He was important and valuable, to the Council of Six, to Braev, but the past could not be forgotten easily. No matter how much he accomplished here, there are times he will feel as valuable as a handful of dirt. It wasn’t the first night Alternis has had difficulty sleeping in the room that had been granted to him. In the past, when he and Edea were much younger they would meet up in the kitchens in the middle of the night, she swore cake would grant him sweet dreams, yet it was always her presence that calmed him.

On nights like this, the helm of the Dark Knight felt like a choke hold, rather than protection. Alternis longed to rip off his helm from his head and cast it out into the snow. It was impossible sleep when all he could hear was a ringing from within the helm, reminding him of the maddening giggles of colourfully painted women, their shrieking laughter the only thing loud enough to drown out the growls of his empty stomach.

Instead he clung to his helm tighter. Taking it off would feel wrong, like he was betraying the Lee family. To give up everything Braev had given him, family, duty, a sense of purpose, on lingering old fears would be foolish. He was both wanted and needed here, the Council was doing noble work and there was much yet to be done.

The craving for a sense of familiarity finally pulled him from his room. He tried not to make a disturbance as he passed through the halls, he didn't wish to explain to anyone why he was still fully dressed in his armour in the middle of the night. Seeing in the dark was no issue, not when you come from the gutter, and being quiet was even less of an issue. He was almost at the kitchens when he finally encountered another person. The exact figure he longed to see.

“Alternis!” she whispered too loudly. Her eyes widened in shock. Edea could use some lessons on stealth from Konoe Kikyo, if only her attention could be taken away from Einheria. “Don’t tell me, you’re craving a midnight snack too?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why aren’t you in bed?”

It took too long for him to reply, he realised after few moments, for Edea had now narrowed her eyes at him. She lifted her hands up to his helm and waited. Patience was not a virtue that came to the only daughter of the Templar naturally, their childhood had been filled with moments of Edea pushing Alternis too far and too quickly, while he retreated further into himself.

They had learnt eventually to understand each other. He tilted his head softly and she accepted it as permission to gently brush her pinky fingers along the bottom of his helm. “I can never tell what face you’re making under here, how will I know if you’re happy or sad if I can’t see you smile?”

Smiles remind him of an animal with their fangs bared. Of uncaring women in Florem with fake faces and fake laughter. He had no need to smile, he was able to show his gratitude to Braev through other means, such as unquestioning loyalty. Smiles were pointless, yet, he longed for the day when Mahzer’s warm motherly smile or Edea’s cookie crumb dusted smile would fill his thoughts before the memories of his youth.

He said nothing as she raised her hands higher over his helm, she folded her fingers so that only her index finger and middle finger remained stretched out. She swiped them downwards over where his cheeks lie, toward his chin quickly. He did not need to feel her fingers to know that they have begun to resemble his own, a warrior’s hands with callouses and bruises.

"There, a smile."

"That doesn't look anything like a smile," he replied. 

"That's the point! You don't want people to know how you feel right? Well now one will now, except me. But I can keep a secret. Next time you’re happy, just do that OK?” She repeated the motion over her own face. 

He raised his fingers to Edea's cheek and copied her motion swiftly. He allowed his gauntlets to press against her skin and he watched her shudder slightly. 

"Fine, our secret." This he could do for her.

“Well come on! I’m still hungry and I know mother baked cookies!” She smiled again and waved her hand. His dark thoughts would return, they were not something someone else could cure, it was something he might solve himself, one day. For now, he had someone to share his grief with and the painful loneliness he felt was now as distant as the city of Florem. Moving on was hard, but following Edea was not. He followed her, as he always would.


End file.
